Press Release
July 19, 2011

Villar to push for pet bill during CSR Expo on Wednesday, July 20

Sen. Manny Villar will present before the gathering of the country's largest corporations tomorrow the bill that will institutionalize corporate social responsibility (CSR) among wealthy corporations.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Trade and Commerce and author of Senate Bill 1239 or the Corporate Social Responsibility Act, is one of the speakers during the League of Corporate Foundation's (LCF) 10th annual CSR Expo and Conference at the SMX Convention Center.

A staunch advocate of CSR and chairman of the Villar Foundation, Villar is proposing to make mandatory for "large taxpayers" as defined by the National Internal Revenue Code and as identified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, to allocate a reasonable percentage of their net income to CSR or projects that complement government's goals.

The bill, which passed committee level in the Senate, seeks to provide incentives to business organizations embracing projects that give back to communities by supporting community development programs, environment protection initiatives, social welfare and assistance and the like. The incentive could be in the form of a full deduction from its gross income of all expenses incurred.

"The initiative of some business organizations operating in the country to care for the environment or provide help to the less fortunate sector of society should be encouraged. The evolving times tell us that social services should not be a monopoly of the government, especially because we don't have enough public funds to immediately solve the many problems affecting the country," Villar said.

The Villar Foundation is behind initiatives such as the Las Pinas-Zapote River Rehabilitation Program, the Sagip-OFW Helpline and the construction of churches in different parts of the country, among others.

The CSR expo slated on July 20 and 21 will provide a platform where the corporate sector and other stakeholders share best practices, discuss new ideas and trends, address current issues and challenges and showcase success stories in CSR.

Over a thousand representatives from the business community, civil society, government, media and academe are expected to attend the conference and visit the exhibit.

News Latest News Feed